Puddin'
by Punkotic
Summary: My take on how the Joker obtained his loving pet name, 'Puddin' by Dr. Harleen Quinzel.


The Joker's mood solemn, his hair was infuriated in a heated emerald blaze.

After his, possessive performance with Dr. Quinzel in his last session; of which he got a bit 'handsy' around the neck when testing the flexibility of the handcuffs. His freedom had been destroyed at the buckles of his new straitjacket. A subconscious attack, given the structure of having to answer question after question his head always got a bit itchy when it had been provoked. His defence raised, he had simply lashed out at his mindless target; which had seemingly been poor Dr. Harleen Quinzel.

His temper cooled, his progression he had made from his past sessions of persuading Dr. Quinzel to downgrade him from a straitjacket to a pair of handcuffs had now become defunct, and he had reverted back to stage one.

His progression to escaping the asylum had been lost.

With this new particular straitjacket, it had been upgraded with more straps and buckles to test his capability as a Jester. With his last one; he had been able to tease the arm that rested on his shoulder partially to the side. With this one, he had no chance; the pain that rendered through his arm when he resisted against the jacket's restraint would make him wince. Pained, this was an added bonus to the guards.

Today a joker with no sense of humour, the appointment with Dr. Quinzel was the only thing that kept him tolerable; keeping him labelled as the 'patient'. However, the back of his mind pondered to if Dr. Quinzel would continue to be his psychiatrist. He had after all, abused her.

A simple mistake for pushing the Joker.

A few minutes past the hour, to the Joker's relief the sound of Dr. Quinzel's high heels tapped against the cemented floor. Her job sustained, the Joker's eyes lazily followed Dr. Quinzel when she finally decided to make her presence known. Her eyes bordered at his straitjacket, advertised with new buckles and straps to signify the Joker's imprisonment a flash of sympathy was sent his way. Her involvement during their last session had played a part in his downfall, and she knew that.

Her lips performed a small weak smile, "how are you feeling today Mr. J?"

The Joker's jaw curved into a small grunt, "is that a serious question? Do you really think I need to answer that?"

Her face fell, "no, of course not."

Her attempt into lightening his mood unsuccessful, she took her seat in front of him with a quiet expression. Far from being empty handed, she placed a series of tubs out on the table in front of her. All of them not very particular in size, the Joker's curiosity to what was inside of them proved to be rather high.

"What are they?"

"I thought about what had happened during our last session, and although it is my job as a psychiatrist to ask you questions I realise now that I may have pushed you too far. I was being selfish and had held my curiosity high above your well-being." She paused, her mind scrambling for words she glanced at him hastily. "As a way of apologising, I want to try and make your stay here more comfortable." she began to fuss with the tub closest to her, a small purple cylinder tub that hid away its contents she reached inside of the bag on the table. "Starting with, a decent meal."

The tub opened, inside was a deformed slice of what appeared to be cake and custard. A delicacy to the Joker's eyes, he raised his eyebrows at the light smile that she offered his way.

"You, want to give me food?"

The Joker had opened up to her unwillingly beforehand about the conditions he faced at the Asylum during his stay. A conversation starter, Dr. Quinzel was quick to learn that he hadn't been given a decent meal in weeks. A strategy to keep the Joker's strength at minimal, it was easy to contain him if he was to begin showing signs of being hostile at the lack of energy and nutrition.

Mortified, Dr. Quinzel had taken the opportunity on her own behalf to make sure that he was fed. None of the other Doctor's supported her decision, and Dr. Arkham simply turned his head away at the mention of the unstable Jester. No one to back her up, not even the catering staff; she had taken it upon herself to prep him some food.

Not entirely much, the best she had to offer was a round at the local shop for cakes and desserts. A limitation to how much she could bring into a session, she settled for sticking to food that contained plenty of sugar and calories; enough to give his system a boost in energy and strength.

"I know it's not much," she answered timidly, her fingers playing around with the handle to the spoon. "But it's a start at least, to get you fed."

"How, thoughtful."

A sign of progression, a small smile appeared on Dr. Quinzel's lips. However, the Joker found a fault to this plan when she moved her chair closer toward him; his arms still restrained. "You're gonna, feed it to me?"

Appalled at the thought of being fed like a baby, to the Joker's annoyance she stood her ground; firmly.

"It's the only way this'll work, cause we both know that your straitjacket ain't coming off."

Repulsed, a large portion of the Joker wanted to reject her offering. He was the Joker, the king, the clown of darkness and he did not let people walk over him. A reputation to uphold, the thought of losing his dominance angered him, even if it was as minimal to being fed pudding from a spoon.

Subjective to the idea, Harleen took the silence as a sign to continue and she offered him a half spoon full of both cake and custard. Not at all forceful, she allowed him to meet half way and he unwillingly opened his mouth. His metal gnashers put on display for her eyes to examine he took the spoon into his mouth.

Stubborn, the Joker chose to test her patience by keeping his mouth shut. The timespan of the spoon being in his mouth magnified significantly, he stared at her doubtfully for an extended period; his tongue unmoved and the cake still sat on the spoon. Proven to be patient with the Joker's antics and unfazed by his torment, a smile etched its way on Dr. Quinzel's lips when the Joker finally gave up and pushed the cake off of the spoon with the reflex of his tongue.

Overwhelmed with the taste of sugar, he consumed the offering in one mouthful before she pulled the spoon away. A positive sign of progression, she smiled again; this time affectionately before she offered him another spoonful. This one a bigger portion of cake and custard, he took it without argument and gratefully swallowed it without even chewing.

This went on for about five minutes, after the cake had been finished they moved to the next tub which had been filled with jelly and cream. She chose against using ice cream as unlike the cream it would have melted by the time it found its way to the Joker's mouth. An entirely new texture, to Dr. Quinzel's entertainment the Joker decided that he would rather slurp it off of the spoon than lick it off. An audience to entertain, he did this for each spoon full and in turn after each attempt he would end up with a concoction of jelly and cream dripping down his chin.

After each spoonful that was eaten; the constant hunger that was in the Joker's stomach was sent further into extinction.

His lips cleaned from any excess jelly that had escaped from the spoon he glanced up at her when he heard her release a small chuckle. "You seem to like Pudding huh?"

"It's been a very long time since I've tasted something this sweet," _not to mention see something even sweeter._

"Maybe next time I could treat you to something sweeter,"

He grinned a silvered smile, echoed with a faint giggle.

The cake and jelly devoured, the small feast of sugared goods was finished off with a selection of custard creams. The spoon no longer required, to the Joker's annoyance she had to hand feed it to him. Not allowed to engulf the biscuits with one bite, Dr. Quinzel made sure for him to eat them in two rounds. Messier than the jelly had been, it wasn't long until the Joker had been powdered in crumbs and sugar.

A rather dry food, Dr. Quinzel pulled out a flask which had a black straw poking out of it. Something to wash down the dessert, the Joker once again had to resist the scowl that threatened to fall on his face. Deliberately now being mocked, he found it to be a good thing that he was still wearing the straitjacket.

His thirst eventually took the better of him and he took a cautious sip. Not sure what to expect it wasn't long until he had pulled away, appalled. "This here drink of coffee is lukewarm,"

"Don't make a fuss Mr. J, it had to be warm to minimise the risk of you burning me."

He scowled again, "I would have preferred it if it was Grape Soda."

She laughed, "Awh, you sure do have a sweet tooth Mr. J."

Agitated his brow furrowed before he took another cautious sip, this mouthful not as unpleasant as the first; it was soon followed by a third and then a forth.

"Don't worry, I will try and bring some in next time for you to try." The flask kept still by Dr. Quinzel's effort, it wasn't long until a smile had etched on her face by the sight of the Joker; a dangerous criminal; covered in crumbs after being fed doses of sugar by a psychiatrist. "You know Mr. J, despite your agitated and savoured personality; it must be nice to finally get something sweet into your system."

Her effort to lighten the Joker's mood unsuccessful as he sent her a threatened glare, she continued. "I bet that you're now filled with so much sugar that you can be classified as a pudding of your own."

Her mind now intrigued with new thoughts and ideas, she had to take just one look at the Joker before she released an entertained laugh. Her own little joke, she kept the Joker in the dark until he had enough of her high pitched squeal.

"What!" he snaps, his voice defiant.

"Oh Mr. J, I know what pudding you are! Your green hair reminds me of the ice-frosting on a cupcake, you're a cupcake Mr. J!"

Her sense of humour too dry for the Joker to bear, his silver teeth released a low snarl. "Don't, call me cupcake; ever again."

"Okay, whatever you say…" She answered and after a long moment a humoured smile etched its way on her lips. "Puddin'."

The reputation he upheld as Dr. Quinzel's patient now impaired, there wasn't a day that went by where she wouldn't test the Joker's patience by the use of her new found pet name for him. An inside joke between the two of them, it appeared that some jokes were better off left unspoken.


End file.
